Scarecrow S:1 E:11
by Daemon Venator
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester investigate a series of disappearances in the small town of Burkitsville, Indiana at the request of their father. With Sam determined to find their father, Dean is left to battle a Norse god on his own...until he meets another hunter.
1. Chapter 1

"Sing with me, sing for the year, sing for the laughter sing for the tears. Sing with me, if it's just for today and maybe tomorrow the good Lord will come and take you away..." Aleksandria belted the lyrics to the Aerosmith classic in her '69 SS Camaro between bits of burger. It was the first hot meal that she had had in a long time and she was enjoying it to the fullest. With the way the Winchester's moved, it was a miracle that she even found the time to eat anything at all...why she was assigned to protection project was a completely mystery since both were completely capable of handling themselves considering they were both very skilled hunters. As if on cue, her phone began vibrating in the pocket of her leather jacket. Aleksandria groaned in frustration banging her head against the headrest of her driver's seat. Hastily she wiped her greasy fingers on her jeans and picked up the phone annoyed. "This better be good, Charlie, I'm in the middle of having my first hot meal in ages."

_"I thought that you might like to know that the Winchesters changed their course; they're headed east down Route 35 towards Indiana." _Charlie stammered on the other end of the line in her usual quiet voice.

"Indiana? What the hell is in Indiana?"

_"Nothing that I can find."_

Aleksandria sighed and pulled up a map from the passenger's seat. "Alright keep me posted to their whereabouts. I'll call you when I'm close."

_"Will do." _

It was a few hours' drive before the Impala was finally found parked outside a shady motel . Aleksandria parked behind the bushes that separated the highway from the entrance of the motel. Her phone rang as if right on cue; Charlie was never too far off from her scent. "Talk to me."

_"Still not finding anything particular. Did you narrow down the exact location?" _

"Yeah, Burkitsville, Indiana. Famous for its...apple pies? That's about all I got." Alex sighed and leaned the drivers seat back to duck under the protection of the dashboard.

_"Sorry, Alex, I got nothing. Looks like you're going to have to do some snooping around yourself." _

"Alright. Well I'm going to need some authority to give me the right. Town is too small for a transfer into the Sheriff's department. Let's try F.B.I. Set up a temporary profile, something that's not going to leave a trace when we take it down."

_"You got it. I'll get that up in a moment. Be careful." _

Alex rummaged through her glove box and picked out her fake Federal I.D. "Well, let's see what we're after." She waited in her car until the Impala peeled out of its parking spot before she made her move. Casually she made her way up to the door that designated the Winchester's motel room and started unlocking it carefully. It took only a few seconds before a click sounded and she was in. Messy, as usual, but at least it wasn't the first time she had to scavenge through a Winchester motel room, so she knew what she was looking for. On the bedside table there was a list of names; specifically, couples. Alex took out her phone and dialed Charlie. "Hey Charlie, I need you to run a scan for these names. Are you ready?"

_"Go." _Alex gave Charlie the list of names and waited for a response. _"Alright, the names you have are names of couples, specifically newly-weds. All traveling, according to records, down Route 35 specifically through the town of Burkitsville." _

Alex looked at the list and smirked. "Got enough specifics?" she muttered under her breath. "So these couples went missing? Never turned up any bodies or evidence of their disappearance?"

_"Nope. Nothing. What do you think it is?"_

"Honestly, at first glance? Ritual sacrifice. Is there a pattern in the disappearances?"

_"Uh...seems that they were each spread a year apart."_

"Hm."

_"Think it's got something to do with the apple orchid?" _Charlie asked.

"Famous apple pies...guess that's a start. I'll run by the apple orchid and see if I can turn anything up. Keep me posted if you find any information regarding the couples that may have been overlooked by the police."

_"Will do." _

The apple orchard was at the very edge of town, snuggled in between a creepy forest and an old dirt road that lead to an abandoned house which still had the lights on. Aleksandria parked the Camaro out of sight and began her investigation. The more she knew, the better…it wasn't her hunt but she didn't like surprises. The wind rustled the leaves below her feet bothering her just enough to bring her attention to the most creepy and disturbing scarecrow she had ever seen her life. "Wow…you are not creepy at all." There was something off about the scarecrow though, something that didn't sit right. There was a little step ladder stashed next to scarecrow, so Alex picked it up and set it right in front of it. "Okay Mr. Creepy, let's see what you've got hiding beneath your little getup." She tugged on the jacket and noticed there was a certain stench that surrounded the thing; human remains…most likely from the last victim accompanied by a mark that was etched into the two by four that held it up.


	2. Chapter 2

"A god, a Norse god, you can't seriously tell me to back off, there is no way they're ready for this!" Alex was at the gas station in the center of town hoping to catch any unfortunate couple that was passing through.

"_You are not to engage, Aleksandria. Merely observe and protect, that is your mission from the church, that is your mission from God." _

She slammed her hand on the top of her car trying to refrain herself from cussing. "I can't protect them and stay back at the same time!"

"_God will give you a path." _

"No don't give me that _'God will give you a path' _bull, I want to know why I'm here!" The phone call ended there. Alex threw her phone into the back seat of her car angrily and slammed the door shut. She was running out of time. Next to her a couple in a Jeep was thanking the mechanic that had been talking to them for a few minutes. She watched them curiously. It didn't take long to figure out that there was something extremely suspicious about the way the town was handling the newcomers. Overly friendly and helpful which was not a part of human nature. Curious, Aleksandria waited for the right moment when she could question the couple about their plans and their specific interactions with the townspeople. "Excuse me!"

"Excuse me, hi, my name is Aleksandria I'm with the F.B.I. I was hoping I could have a moment of your time to ask you question about an on-going investigation in this town?" Alex quickly flashed her fake Federal I.D. and a smile.

_"Oh well, we're actually just passing through on our way to New York for our honeymoon."_

"It will just take a moment. May I ask about your recent mechanical difficulties?"

_"Just an easy fix, simple issue with the tail lights. Took the mechanic about twenty minutes, didn't even bother to charge us for the labor." _

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah I bet he was a real charmer like the rest of these folks here. May I ask which route you plan on taking to New York?"

_"Uh yeah, Sheriff said there is a short cut down Route 35 past the apple orchids." _

Alex turned her head to the Sheriff that was watching them intently. "Alright, please try not to look alarmed, but I believe that you may be in danger. Over the last couple of years there have been disappearances, all of which were couples, along Route 35 specifically around this town. So, in the interest of your safety, I would like to ask you to leave this town the way you came in and find an alternate route to your final destination. I realize that this will be a set back from whatever plans you may have had, but I believe this is in your best interest." She could see a look of disbelief on their faces, but it didn't take much to convince them. As soon as she stepped away from the car, the couple took off a little more suspiciously than needed and peeled off in the opposite direction of the orchids. She could feel the angry eyes of the Sheriff on her back as he walked up to confront her.

_"You know, Miss, I think you sent them in the wrong direction. In fact, I know you did. You just added another couple of hours to their trip." _

Aleksandria smirked and crossed her arms. "You know, I don't think I did." She smirked and crossed her arms with an attitude. "In fact, I sent them exactly where I wanted them to go. Far away from here and this creepy little town of yours...or didn't you think the F.B.I. would eventually catch up with you and the disappearances linked to this town?"

_"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."_

"I'm onto you." Without a last word, Alex walked back to her car knowing that she just set off a chain of reactions that she was going to regret, but if it meant getting to her target more quickly without the involvement of the Winchesters, then so be it. She needed more answers, though, and she knew exactly where to get them; at the farmhouse that played host to the scarecrow.

Aleksandria parked her Camaro somewhere out of sight off the road so that if she needed an escape, she would have one. It was a ten minute walk from the highway to the farmhouse where the god hung still on his throne of death. She could feel her heart begin to pound. Alex made her way into the house and started searching for any sign of the location of the anchor. If there was one thing she knew about Norse gods, it was that they always came with an anchor. It made them much easier to kill. Behind her there was a distinct creak...finally. To avoid suspicion on the grounds of wanting to be caught, Aleksandria reached for her weapon and turned around quickly. She was met with a blow to her head from the butt of a rifle. Everything went dark.

There was a pounding coming from the back of her head. It was dark and dust, but a small stream of light was coming through the cellar door that was undoubtedly locked from the outside. She sat up carefully and winced at the pain coming from her side. "Ah...you've got to be kidding me." Alex looked around her. She was in a storage cellar, and not a very big one at that, but despite the pain coming from her side and from her head, Alex was exactly where she wanted to be. The best way to bring out the monster was to face it head on...and that was exactly what was about to happen. All they needed now was a male counterpart of complete the ritual. Aleksandria wondered who exactly that man was going to be. An hour later, she found out.


	3. Chapter 3

Shit. It was the first thing that ran through her mind when the body of Dean Winchester was thrown down into the cellar that hosted her own fate. Shit. Running through her mind was the conversation she held earlier. No contact whatsoever...so much for that order. Shit. Shit. Shit. At least his unconscious state bought her some time to think up how exactly she was going to handle the situation. Think, Alex, think...you're a hunter...he's a hunter. The odds of ending up on the same hunt are pretty slim, but not impossible. But what about the F.B.I. badge? Plenty of hunters fake their authority, especially the Winchesters. That was the idea she needed. It was so simple, all she needed to do was convince Dean that it was true; technically it was, but Dean was a naturally suspicious man.

It was another half an hour before Dean finally woke up. Alex tried her best to keep a straight face, pretending that he was a complete stranger to her. Piece of cake...she thought. Well she knew that was a lie, but it was one she was going to have to believe. She was sitting in the corner of the cellar with the light obstructing her face from his view. "You come here often?" She had to refrain from smirking at his joke with little success. "Oh yeah...because deep dark cellars just scream late night fun," she said sarcastically. "I don't even like pie..." she muttered under her breath.

Aleksandria watched as Dean tried throwing himself against the cellar door before giving up. "Don't bother. It's dead bolted from the outside," she sighed. Annoyed, Alex stood up, stretching her legs and walking towards the stairs. It was almost nightfall which meant that the sacrifice was going to happen soon.

"Son of a bitch." She watched as Dean made himself comfortable against the wall. "Well..I bet your wondering what you're doing in a place like this." He said looking around the cellar once more.

"Not really," she smiled looking at Dean before walking into the light. "I pissed off the Sheriff. Stuck my nose into the town's business...and, well, here I am." She held out her arms as if presenting herself and smirked. "What about you? What did you do to land yourself in here?"

Dean smirked and tilted his head with his cocky attitude. "Eh, pissed off the Sheriff, stuck my nose into the town's business..." he replied smugly.

"Really? Couldn't even come up with something original?" she asked sarcastically. Dean shrugged.

"I'm Dean by the way." Dean held his hand out with friendly eyes.

"Alex..." she smiled as she shook his hand.

"So you here about the disappearances?" Dean asked casually.

Aleksandria raised an eyebrow. "And what would you know about that?"

"Little bird told me," he replied. Aleksandria crossed her arms ready to ask another question, but her sentence was interrupted as the cellar door opened.

"It's time..." The Sheriff locked his gun and pointed it carefully at the two of them.

"Got a plan?" she asked.

"Working on it," Dean muttered under his breath.

Aleksandria could barely hear his reply, but she knew enough to know that he didn't have a plan. Luckily for the both of them, she did, and it was hiding in her boot. Note to self, Alex thought, leave a knife in the most obvious place you could because humans are stupid. Speaking of stupid, Dean was starting to look at her suspiciously. Alex looked at him and sighed. "Well it better be a damn good plan if you want to get out of this alive." The town Sheriff pulled her up from her knees and shoved her forward towards the orchard. Alex fought against the Sheriff, but her attempts were futile. I wasn't until they were left for the sacrifice would she be able to make her play, she was just hoping that it wouldn't be too late. It didn't take them long to reach the orchard and they walked right past the Scarecrow god that was still hanging motionless on its throne. "Still think you're creepy..." Alex muttered under her breath.

"Keep moving," said the Sheriff pushing her forward. It was only a few minutes until sundown now and they were smack dab in the middle of the orchard now. At that point, Alex and Dean were split up, Alex tied to one tree and Dean another. The Sheriff tied the ropes tightly at her wrists which were placed above her head. "Any last words, Agent?" the Sheriff spat in her face. Alex thought real long and hard for the perfect comeback.

"Thank God for Yoga?" she replied with a question. She knew she had confused the hell out of the Sheriff and his fellow townspeople, but perhaps they would eventually get it.

"Please understand...this is for the good of all. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," a woman pleaded with her.

Alex laughed and smiled at her. "So now you're quoting Spock...now I definitely know you're not crazy," she replied sarcastically. "Hate to break it to you, but I ain't an alien and I'm sure as hell not a Vulcan so forgive me if I find that phrase a little out of taste." The woman looked at her for a moment before walking off with the rest of the townspeople leaving Alex and Dean alone to be sacrificed. "We're not even a couple!" she shouted after them wondering if it would stir up any second thoughts they were having, but she had no such luck. Alex turned her head and looked at Dean.

"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" Dean screamed at the townspeople as they walked off into the darkness. Alex rolled her eyes and sighed pulling on her ropes.

"So Dean...about that plan of yours?"

"I'm working on it..." he replied.

Alex raised her brow and looked at him questioningly. She shifted her weight to make herself more comfortable and noticed a bulge in her boot. My knife! Alex smiled and sat up as straight as she could. "Note to self," she muttered, "keep knife in obvious fighting place, because, you know, people are stupid." Alex stretched her leg above her head so that she could reach her boot zipper with her hands which were tied above her head. "Thank God for Yoga class," she commented as she slowly pulled the zipper down loosening her boot just enough for the knife to slip out onto her fingertips. It was a small little pocket knife, but it was enough to do the job. "Bingo!" She started sawing at her ropes.

She could feel Dean's eyes giving her a once over as she tugged herself free from her ropes. "Well damn..." he commented. She had broken through the first set of rope and was working her way through the second set. Her hands were almost free. "Lucky for you, I have a plan that almost has us free. Just keep an eye on that scarecrow thing," she said. Another minute later and she was free. Alex tugged the ropes off of her arms and walked over to Dean who was still tied to the tree. She started at his ropes and pulled him free, offering her hand to help pull him up.

"Better late than never I guess."

Alex looked at him "Let's get out of her before that thing wakes up..." she sighed tightening her grip around the knife in her hand.

"If it hasn't already..." he whispered. Somewhere in the distance, a twig snapped. As if in sync, both Aleksandria and Dean spun around to face the noise. Alex gripped the blade in her hand and silently moved forward towards the sound. "You wouldn't happen to have another knife stashed somewhere, would you?" Dean asked. Alex rolled her eyes at the comment and muttered under her breath.

"Would you like to know?" A minute later she let the tension in her shoulders go and relaxed at bit. "I think we're clear..." she whispered, but when she turned around, the god was there creeping up behind Dean. "Dean, look out!" Alex ran towards him and tackled him to the ground, pushing him out of harm's way. "Run!" she screamed as she got up from the ground and started running. She didn't waste time looking behind her, so she could only hope that Dean was able to keep up. She didn't make it very far before she ran into the townspeople...guess she should've known better than to make wisecracks when she was being held captive.

"Going somewhere?" the Sheriff asked, his rifle pointed at her face. Alex stopped in her tracks and looked around her. They were surrounded by townspeople, some with guns, others with pitchforks.

"Son of a bitch," Dean said. Aleksandria couldn't count the amount of times she had heard that phrase coming from his mouth, it was like his unofficial catch phrase.

"Well you know, I was just thinking I'd take a lovely midnight stroll through the orchard," Alex replied sarcastically. She backed up into Dean and looked at him. "Your turn...and please tell me you have a plan." Dean put his hands on her shoulders stopping her from backing up any further, her guess was that they were completely surrounded. It didn't matter, because when she got close enough, she could hear what he heard; footsteps. They were not alone. Dean threw the both of them out of the way as the god game down with a vengeance, this time snatching an elderly townsman for the sacrifice. The Sheriff was outraged.

"Look at what you did!" he screamed, cocking his gun and pointing it at the two of them, but the god was too fast. Before he could pull the trigger, he was taking and dragged off into the orchard screaming bloody murder.

"Karma is a bitch..." Alex sighed as she pulled herself up from the ground and started running. "Come on, this way! If we can make it back to the road, we'll be safe. Aleksandria started running again, weaving in and out of the trees as they made her way back towards the road, but her journey was cut short. Out of nowhere, a rifle butt smacked across the face sending her spinning in the opposite direction. Alex hit the ground with a thud, spots in front of her eyes where her vision use to be. It was the Sheriff. How the hell did he get away?

"Not it my town...I will not let you ruin this town!" Alex couldn't see anything...somewhere along the way she had dropped her knife leaving her defenseless. Shit, she thought to herself. This is not how I wanted things to go down...not now at least. And then, the sound of a rifle, except, she didn't feel the blast. A body fell down next to her in the grass, her eyes coming back into focus now. It was the Sheriff. Dean? There was no way he could've shot the Sheriff...for one he didn't have a gun. That could only mean one thing; his brother had come back to help him after all.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you alright?"

"Sam?" Dean sounded surprised; Aleksandria sure was. She tried standing on her own two feet but her knees buckled underneath her...she had been hit in the head one too many times in the past couple of hours and hit hard. She felt Dean help her up along with his brother Sam until she could shake the dizziness from her head.

"Thank you."

"How did you get here?" Dean asked his big little brother curiously.

"Stole a car," Sam replied, bowing his head in shame while laughing at his own words.

"Ah ha! That's my boy!" Dean said proudly. Alex shook her head and rolled her eyes at the comment, but it wasn't anything she wasn't aware of. The Winchesters had a colorful way of hunting and it included credit card fraud, stealing vehicles, and destroying public property. She knew that sometimes it couldn't be helped, but they were leaving too much of a trail and the police were starting to catch on to them. "Now we just got to figure out how to get rid of that ugly thing," Dean replied. "Pagan god, fugly looking scarecrow."

"No way we're going to defeat him on our own. Pagan gods usually have an anchor of some sort, something that keeps them here. My blade will keep him temporarily down, but it only gives us just enough time to get the hell out of here," said Aleksandria. She was still feeling dizzy and she could feel blood trickling down her head, but it was just a small flesh wound that could use some stitches, but those could wait. "Chances are the anchor is a tree, an old tree with ritual carvings on it. We'll come back in the morning, burn the thing, and get out of here." There was a rustling noise coming from behind them. "We should get out of here...like right now." Aleksandria picked up her knife from the ground nearby and started walking in the direction towards the highway. It wasn't a very far walk from where they were, she was just hoping that they wouldn't run into anything on the way there.

It took less than five minutes with no interruptions to get from where they were to the road that paved right through the orchard. Her Camaro was parked just out of sight from the road; Aleksandria popped the trunk and pulled out a first aid kit. "We wait for the morning sun to rise, find the anchor, burn it to the ground," she told the Winchesters before sitting in her car and pulling down the mirror to start stitching up the cut on her face. "Any ideas on it's location?"

"Not at the moment. Orchard is quiet though, guess it got the sacrifices it need for the night. We should head back into town and get some sleep, maybe something to eat. I'm starving," Dean commented. He pushed his brother back behind the Impala out of eyesight, hoping to hide his conversation from view. "What do you think Sammy? Think we should trust her?"

"I don't know Dean, I mean she saved your life, I don't see why not..." Sam replied.

"She says she's working for the F.B.I. but she knows damn well too much about this whole pagan god thing to be serious. I'm not entirely sure she's a hunter either." Dean whispered urgently.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she knew me. She knew my name before I even told her..." Dean said.

She knew she had screwed up at some point, she was just hoping Dean didn't catch it. Alex should've known better. She finished up her last few stitches and wiped the blood from her head, pulling her leather jacked over her shoulders and starting up the engine. "Well, seems like you two got a handle on this situation. I trust you're not going to screw up the close? Find the tree, burn it to a crisp, it's pretty simple."

"Where are going?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"Back to the Bureau, let them know that the situation has been...contained." Alex paused slightly and looked at the brothers. She got up from the passengers seat and pulled out an official looking card with the F.B.I title stamped on it followed by her name and a phone number in which to reach her...well fake number. "Need anything, call me." With that, Alex smiled and walked back to her car, the engine turning over smoothly as her radio blasted 'Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC.

"Did she just give us a fake number?" Dean asked. Sam looked at the card in his hand and laughed nodding.

"Yeah I think she did."

"Son of a bitch."


End file.
